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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722593">Reverse Engineering</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF'>00FFFF</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Than Just Bases [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hermitcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, HCBBS, Human False?, Non-human hermits - Freeform, Robot Tango?, Robotics, Transformation, Where do you even draw the line between cyborg and robot?, season 7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:09:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,533</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722593</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/00FFFF/pseuds/00FFFF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>False is happily working on an addition to her colourful new base when she finds out that it wasn’t <em>just</em> the bases that got swapped.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>More Than Just Bases [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2221464</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>71</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Reverse Engineering</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was chaos in the small room when the mystery of ‘HCBBS’ was revealed. Hermits rushed to read the signs, frantically searched for the shulker boxes labeled with their names, and enthusiastically waved the paper slips with the name of whose base they now owned in the air. False was excited too, she had to admit. She rushed in, grabbed her piece of paper, and left, not wanting to get caught up in the chaos of the situation (and to make off with her profits from scamming Beef, but that’s beside the point).</p>
<p><em> ‘Tango!’ </em>her paper says. Written in perfect font, similar to the one used in copies of books and that can be seen in chat.</p>
<p>False examines the paper as she flies home to her, she supposes, <em> old </em> base. She... she has a new base, now. The one of her neighbour, with the colour scheme that looks like it came straight from a child’s fever dream. Though, False has to admit, there is <em> something </em>about it that never fails to make her smile, every time she flies past. This time is no exception, and False fires another rocket, flying away from the grey mass to her right, landing on top of the almost plastic-y, fake grass in the middle of colourful, fluffy-looking trees.</p>
<p>Like every other hermit caught in the great swappage of bases, False takes her time getting used to her new home. Flying in between and through the various buildings and farms, getting her mind used to where everything is... things like that. She can tell that Tango really put his heart and soul into his base, with all the details sprucing up the place even more than necessary. It’s a lot of fun, almost feeling like she’s starting all over again, but instead in a ready-made base. Confusing, sure, but definitely fun.</p>
<p>And like every other hermit, False doesn’t notice anything when things begin to change. It’s not like the hermits are big on seeing each other when they’ve got so much work to do in and around their new bases. They’re all convinced that the swapping could only lead to further improvement. That putting a little bit of their <em> own </em>souls into these new places would make them feel more at home.</p>
<p>It’s easy to see, in hindsight, that it wasn’t just the bases that got swapped.</p>
<p>Something might have- <em> should </em> have given it away, if only the hermits paid a little more attention to each other. Doc’s obsession with diamonds and other riches wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary for him, but the goat horns that sprouted from Cub’s head <em> were. </em> And who would have guessed that Beef possessed the skills to craft a cybernetic eye for himself? </p>
<p>False sure didn’t give it any thought; she was happily building away on a small island just off to the side of her cartoon-themed base. She used her recently acquired concrete contraption to craft up some nice colours to work with, and after she sketched out a few nice designs, she got to work placing blocks.</p>
<p>It was easy to get lost in the process, as it seemed like the sun had set in the blink of an eye, leaving False standing in the darkness of night. She rubs her eyes, blinking a couple of times to get rid of that awful feeling you get when you keep your eyes open for too long at a time. False looks up at the sky and wonders where the time went, before plopping down a bed next to where she’s standing, letting herself fall down onto it and being swept into a deep, dreamless sleep.</p>
<p>She rises with the sun again the very next morning, energized and eager to continue building. False has never really worked with colours this bold before, it’s exciting! It’s <em> new! </em>She continues to chip away at the building, placing blocks almost methodically, not even noticing as she works right through the entire day again. Not even stopping to eat or rest for a moment. That following night she lays in bed again, startled by how quickly night seemed to arrive. She lays awake, unable to actually fall asleep, thoughts of the project at hand, colours, and images of the materials flying through her mind.</p>
<p>She isn’t sure how she misses the sunrise the next morning, but she rolls out of bed and gets back to work. The building is almost done, and False steps back to look up at it from a slight distance. It really looks like it’d fit in, she has to say! False wipes the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand, but stops in the middle of the motion.</p>
<p>That... that didn’t feel like her hand at all. That felt like... </p>
<p>False moves her arm down, turning it around to inspect it from up close.</p>
<p>
  <em> ...Metal? </em>
</p>
<p>But before she can take a look at her hands any further, the sound of rockets alerts her to the presence of a visitor. Tango circles the air and lands with a <em> thud </em>in the sand next to her with a barely audible “Oof.”</p>
<p>“Tango?” She greets her neighbour. “What are you-?”</p>
<p>Tango turns around, and False gasps. He- he has <em> bags </em> under his eyes? The crinkles in the skin surrounding his eyes look almost too real to be synthetic. Did he always look like that? His eyes are... actually, no. His eyes <em> aren’t </em>supposed to be blue, are they?</p>
<p>“Hi False! I was just- uh, about to borrow some items from you, but... I see you’re camping with, uh... similar problems,” Tango nods at False’s exposed arms.</p>
<p>She looks at her hands, rolling up her sleeves to really see. It looks like she doesn’t have synthetic skin like Tango is supposed to have. Her skin turned into this metal-like material, clanking softly when she taps on it with her equally metallic fingers. The joints in her hands are visible, and somewhere around her elbow the metal blends smoothly (<em>too </em>smoothly) into her own, human flesh.</p>
<p>Tango rolls up his own sleeves, showing off where his arms go from inorganic to organic in a similar, mirrored way. Although False can’t really tell with his synthetic skin covering everything up for the most part, the very <em> human </em>scars and cuts on his hands say more than enough.</p>
<p>Now that False is aware of it, she realizes just how <em> rigid </em> her skin feels. Her brain now registers the clicking noise every time she moves even the slightest bit. Her eyes feel... dry? But is that really just because of the sand she’s been working with all this time? Considering the condition Tango is in she’s not so sure about that anymore. </p>
<p>Tango gives False time to take it all in, her brain catching up with what her eyes are seeing. Tango is breathing softly, chest rising up and down in a way that he never has before. He’s... he’s a <em>robot. </em>Robots don’t breathe, do they-?</p>
<p>...When was the last time that <em> False </em>took a breath? </p>
<p>False shakes her head, and looks back at the startlingly human-looking Tango. Something’s going on, it’s clear, now. </p>
<p>“Do you think we should change back?” False finally asks. “Our bases, I mean. D’you think that that’d fix everything?”</p>
<p>“I dunno,” Tango says. “Seeing you like this confirms my theory, though.”</p>
<p>“That theory being..?”</p>
<p>“Us swapping bases somehow caused these changes to happen,” He says. “Oh thank goodness, I’m not going crazy,” He chuckles softly.</p>
<p>“So you think that swapping our deeds back would swap <em> us </em>back, too?”</p>
<p>Tango shrugs. “It doesn’t hurt to try, at least.”</p>
<p>False hums in agreement, turning back to the tiki bar she just about finished, save for a few final touches.</p>
<p>“Man... I really liked it here, too,” She sighs. “I can see why you’d want to change back- I barely even noticed all... this.” She gestures vaguely with her hands.</p>
<p>“Oh! I mean...” Tango scratches behind his head. “I really like what you did with the place, not gonna lie. I know who I’ll have to ask when I’m stuck working on a new building, that’s for sure!”</p>
<p>False cracks a smile at that. “I assume you did something more redstone related in your- I mean, my base then, yeah?”</p>
<p>Tango nods, his cheeks turning the colour of redstone ever so slightly- something that <em> definitely </em>shouldn’t be possible for him. </p>
<p>“...There’s a lot of underutilized space that could fit a lot of new farms! It’s a redstoner’s dream!” he smiles.</p>
<p>“Well, you can keep working over there, I won’t complain,” False smiles. “Unless... You <em> want </em>to keep my base?”</p>
<p>“What? No! No no no no!” Tango blurts out. “I’ve had enough of being human, I don’t know how you guys do it to be honest! Feeling hungry and feeling tired and just... <em> Feeling </em>in general. Yeuch. Not for me.” </p>
<p>“I thought you could feel temperatures, though?” False asks.</p>
<p>“Well, yeah- but I don’t fancy burning my bits on a magma block if I can help it. I already get distracted enough as it is.”</p>
<p>“Fair enough, yeah,” False laughs. “Shall we get the deeds, then?”</p>
<p>Tango nods firmly. “Let’s do this.”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!! Look out for the other hermit swaps written by some of my friends 👀</p></blockquote></div></div>
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